From staff and wire reports
Carson (34-3) plays at Enka (25-1) in the 3A Western Regional final tonight at 6 p.m.
Enka’s Sugar Jets won the Mountain Athletic Conference and beat West Henderson for the third time on Saturday to advance to this game.
Enka’s only loss came on Sept. 19 against 4A T.C. Roberson. Senior Taylor Sauer had 29 kills for the Sugar Jets in that 3-1 setback.
Delaney James is the setter for Enka. Other standouts are Kyara Porche, Sierrah Mueller and Erin Williams. All are seniors.
Carson finished second in the NPC, losing twice to North Iredell in the regular season.
Carson’s other loss was to Starmount, which fell to North Surry in a 2A quarterfinal.
Carson won three games in the NPC tournament, beating North Iredell in the championship game. The Cougars then opened the playoffs with a home win against Weddington, and they’ve won three straight against conference champs on the road, beating Hickory Ridge, Charlotte Catholic and Marvin Ridge.
Key players for the Cougars include junior setter Michaela White and senior hitters Allison Blackwell and Aimee Cloninger. Those three probably will play every point.
Madison Weast is a standout at middle blocker. Hannah Elmore is a key hitter. Libero Laura Vaughn leads the back row players.

Prep football
Times and venues were announced on Monday for the football state championship games on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.
4A: at UNC, Nov. 30, 7:30
4AA: at UNC, Dec. 1, 11 a.m.
2A: at Wake, Dec. 1, 11 a.m.
3A: at Wake, Dec. 1, 3 p.m.
3AA: at Wake, Dec. 1, 7 p.m.
1A: at N.C. State, Dec. 1, 11 a.m.
1AA: at N.C. State, Dec. 1, 3 p.m.
2AA: at N.C. State, Dec. 1, 7 p.m.
State championships
State championships will be decided on Saturday in cross county (Kernersville) volleyball (Raleigh) and girls dual team tennis (Burlington).
Prep soccer
Salisbury’s boys soccer team (16-2-1) plans to open the 2A state playoffs at home tonight against wild-card team East Burke (7-11-1).
Starting time is 6:30 p.m.
The Hornets are ranked 13th in 2A.
Black Mountain C.D. Owen (19-1) is ranked No. 1 in 2A.
? Carson plans to open the 3A soccer playoffs on Wednesday at Ledford (14-5-3).
The Cougars (10-8) finished third in the NPC behind West Iredell and Statesville.

Prep tennis
East Rowan’s tennis season ended with a 5-1 loss at Hickory in the third round of the 3A dual team state playoffs.
The Mustangs had a fine season at 15-2.
? Brevard beat Shelby 6-0 in the 2A playoffs. Salisbury will play at Brevard in the fourth round.
? Gray Stone advanced to the 1A semifinals with a 5-1 win against Kernersville Bishop McGuinness.
CIAA football
Livingstone’s Dorian Edwards was honored as the CIAA’s defensive lineman of the week.
Edwardsrecorded a career-high 17 tackles in a loss at Fayetteville State.
Edwards forced a fumble and made two fumble recoveries. He returned one of his recoveries for a 23-yard TD.

SAC football
SAC players of the week are Mars Hill receiver Duenta Jennings, Lenoir-Rhyne linebacker Tanner Botts and Carson-Newman kicker Curt Duncan.

SAC soccer
SAC first-round tournament matches scheduled for today were pushed back to Wednesday.
Catawba’s men are at Lincoln Memorial, while Catawba’s women will be home against Anderson at 5 p.m.
Youth soccer
The local FCCA 9U team, the Green Dragons, played Saturday against Charlotte United Football Club and won two matches.
Colin Donaldson, Ben Childress and Maddox Goodnight scored two goals each. Wade Robins scored one goal
Griffin Smith controlled the midfield.
Luke Graeber, Bennett Clark and Will Webb played well defensively.
Local golf
The McCanless Couples played with a three-man Captain’s Choice format on Sunday.
The team of Walt Kincaid, Kim Kincaid and Bryan Reynolds finished first.
The team of Jan Godwin, Harry Owens and Tim Earnhardt placed second.
Closest to the pin was won by Roy Green. Godwin low the longest putt.
Youth football
The Salisbury 49ers (ages 7-8) are 7-0 and have allowed only six points this season.
The 49ers qualified for the NCYFL state championship game by beating the Charlotte Tigers 20-0.
The Tigers also have qualified for nationals in Florida and are accepting donations for that trip.
? The Salisbury 49ers (ages 5-6) are 3-3 and beat the Charlotte Tigers 28-22 with a drive in the final seconds.
The championships will be at Mooresville High.
Contact Brian Miller at 704-754-1863 for information.
Stallions football
The Cabarrus Stallions jayvee football team plays Saturday at 2 p.m. in Rock Hill, S.C., for the Pioneer League championship.
The Stallions will play at Dutchman’s Creek Middle School.
The Stallions (9-1) are coming off a 50-20 playoff win in Kingsport, Tenn.
Carolina Starz softball
The Carolina Starz are holding tryouts for an 8-under girls softball team on Nov. 11.
The team will start play this spring and will be added to a solid organization based in Kannapolis-Concord that includes 12U through 16U teams.
The Starz are looking for girls born in 2004 or 2005, who want to develop and learn the game from an early age.
Tryouts will be from 2-4 p.m. at Safrit Park (1415 Bethpage Rd., Kannapolis, Field 2).
Contact Lex Graham at 980-521-0166 or lex.graham.3@gmail.com.
Hurley YMCA
The J.F. Hurley YMCA is holding registration for Little Shooters coed basketball (ages 4-6) and girls basketball (ages 7-15) until Nov. 4.
Registration for coed soccer leagues for ages 3-14 is available until Nov. 25.
Coaches are needed,
Contact Phillip Hilliard at 704-636-0111.
Yanks keep Cano, Curt
NEW YORK – The New York Yankees have exercised their $15 million contract options for second baseman Robinson Cano and outfielder Curtis Granderson for next season.
Cano hit .313 with 33 home runs and 94 RBIs this season and Granderson hit 43 homers and drove in 106 runs, but with a .232 average.
The Yankees were swept in the ALCS by the Detroit Tigers, who went on to lose the World Series to San Francisco.
Both players had dreadful postseasons. In the playoffs, Cano hit .075 (3 for 40) with no home runs, including a 29 at-bat hitless streak. Granderson was 3 for 30 with 16 strikeouts.
A’s dump Drew
OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland Athletics have exercised their $4.5 million contract option for closer Grant Balfour, while the AL West champions have declined their half of a $10 million mutual option for shortstop Stephen Drew. Drew receives a $1.35 million buyout.
Drew, acquired in an August trade with Arizona, batted .250 with five homers and 16 RBIs in 39 games.